Electrical connecting element



Sept. 30,1969 I I L. JAAKSOO ETAL 5 ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENT FiledDec. 4. 1967 2 Shets-Sheet 1 Fig. la Fig/b Fig. fc

Sept. 30, 1969 1.. JAAKSOO ET 3,470,525

ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENT Filed Dec. 4. 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTUR. LEMBIT J'RAKSOO WERNER STANG-E.

United States Patent Ot'fice 3,470,525 Patented Sept. 30, 1969 US. Cl.339-217 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An electrical connectingelement for receiving a contact element with an annular flange thereonis composed of two legs and an intermediate part constituting aconnection for the legs. The legs or tongues are of resilient,electrically conducting material. Approximately in the center of eachtongue there is a notch to receive the flange on the contact element.The tongues are convexly bent towards each other and are wider than theconnection element so that a releasing element can be inserted whichwill push the tongues apart to permit the flange to be withdrawn fromthe notches.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The invention relatesto an electrical connecting element.

The prior art In order to fix a male or female contact in a base ofinsulating material it has been proposed to insert m a cylindricalcavity in the base a cylindrical casing with a number of resilienttongues to cooperate with an annular flange on the contact. The tonguesare so arranged that they are pressed aside when the contact with itsflange is inserted in the casing. When the flange has passed thetongues, these snap shut behind the flange and lock the contact to thebase. When releasing the contact from the base, a cylindrical tool isplaced around the contact and is pressed against the flange, whereby theresilient tongues are pressed aside and lose their grip on the flange sothat the contact and tool can be drawn out.

The shape of the casing with its resilient tongues makes it necessary touse a cylindrical tool which has to be placed around the contact and thecable attached to the contact.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a connectingelement, arranged in a contact base, in order to removably hold acontact element insertable in the contact base, in which locking andreleasing of the contact element is carried out in a simpler way withthe help of a much simpler tool than in the known construction. Theconnecting element according to the invention consists of tworectangular tongues pointing in the same direction and connected to eachother at one end, said tongues being of resilient and electricallyconducting material and between which it is possible to insert thementioned contact element. Most characteristic of the connecting elementis that at least one of the tongues is provided with a notch which isarranged in such way that a flange on the contact element engages in thenotch when the contact element is inserted in its working position inthe contact base.

BRIEF DESCIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawing showsan embodiment of the connecting element in two perpendicular directions.FIG. 2 shows the appearance of the sheet from which the connectingelement is manufactured. FIG- URES 3 and 4 show in two sectionsperpendicular to each other a contact base with inserted connectingelements and with mounted contact elements. FIG. 5, finally, shows theapperance of the tool used when removing and possibly also wheninserting the contact element.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The connecting element consistsof two tongues 1 and 2, connected to each other at one end. Theconnection is made by means of an intermediate piece 3, as most clearlyseen in FIG. 2. The connecting element is manufactured of a resilientand electrically conducting material, preferably some suitable bronze,and is bent from a sheet as shown in FIG. 2. The sheet is bent along thebroken lines 4. The tongues 1 and 2 can be straight or curved, as shownin the figures. At approximately the middle at least one of the tongues,suitably both, are provided with a notch 5 so dimensioned that anannular flange on that connecting element which is to be connected canengage the notch and hold the connecting element. A hole 6 is made inthe intermediate piece 3 for each pair of tongues, the diameter of thehole being somewhat greater than that of the inserted connectingelement.

FIG. 3 shows how the connecting element is placed in a contact base 7 ofinsulating material, carrying and enclosing the connecting element. Theconnecting element is arranged in a cavity 8 in the contact base. Thecontact element 10, attached to a cable 9, is provided with an annularflange 11 and is inserted from the right between the tongues 1 and 2until the flange 11 falls into the notches 5. The left end of thecontact element has then passed through the hole 6 in the intermediatepiece 3. Thus, the hole provides a guide for the left end of the contactelement and by cooperation between flange 11 and the hole in theresilient tongues, the contact element 10 is locked in the contact base.In order to release the contact element a tool is used according to FIG.5. This is made of insulating material in the form of a plane strip 15,both ends of which are shaped as tongues 16 and 17 of different widths,making it possible to use the tool for different sizes of contacts. Forvoltage measuring of the different contact elements in the base, a toolof an electrically conducting material can be used, connected to ameasuring instrument.

When a contact element with cable is to be released from the base, thetool is placed near the cable and per pendicular to the plane of thetongues 1 and 2. Thus, in FIG. 3 the tool is imagined to be placed inthe plane of the paper. After this the tool is inserted between tongues1 and 2 in the connecting element, whereby the tongues are pressed apartso that the flange 11 loses its engagement with the holes 5, and thecable with the holes 5, and the cable with the contact element can betaken out.

Due to the fact that the connecting element is manufactured of a flatsheet it is possible in a simple manner to connect two adjacent pairs oftongues. By punching of the material shown in FIG. 2, the two apertures12 are produced, ending a short distance from the lines 4 along whichthe sheet is bent. In this way the two pairs of cooperating contacttongues 1 and 2 will be connected to each other by the intermediatepiece 3, and a direct connection is obtained betwen the cables 9 and 13in FIG. 4. Should switching-over between two cables not be desired, thedouble connecting element shown in FIG. 4 is substituted by two elementsseparated from each other of the type shown in FIG. 1b.

A suitable field of application for the invention is in contact basesfor relays with many connecting contacts. The relay is provided withmale contacts to cooperate 3 with the female contacts and 14 shown inFIGURES 4 and 5. FIG. 3 is a vertical section through a part of such acontact base and FIG. 4 is a horizontal section through the uppercontact row 10, 14 along the line IV-IV in FIG. 3 and can, for example,show the supply of feeding current to a single relay in a relay chain.From a relay not shown, the feeding current flows through the cable 9and its contact 10 which is in connection with the connecting element.From there the feeding current flows through the lower part of theconnection element, shown in FIG. 4, through the contact 14 out in thecable 13 to the next relay in the chain. On the left side in FIGURES 3and 4 a relay can be connected by means of a male contact in one of thecontact elements 10 or 14. The current is returned by means of a pair ofcontacts 10 and 14, arranged in a lower contact plane. The lastmentioned contact is not shown, but it is situated under the contactelement 14.

In the arrangement shown, any of the relays can be removed withoutbreaking the feeding circuit for the other relays.

The above should be regarded only as an example of how the connectingelement produced of a flat metal sheet can very simply solve twofundamentally important problems, namely to operate as a lockingarrangement for contact elements attached to cables and to act as aconnecting part between two adjacent contact elements.

We claim:

1. Connecting element arranged in a contact base in order to removablyhold a contact element in a cavity in the base and to achieve galvanicconnection with a contact element held in position in the connectingelement, said connecting element being U-shaped and comprising anintermediate piece and at least two tongues projecting from saidintermediate piece in the same direction, said tongues being of aresilient and electrically conducting material between which tonguescontact elements are insertable and having at least one notchapproximately in the middle of the length of each of the tongues tocooperate with an annular flange arranged on the insertable contactelement, said intermediate piece having a hole therein opposite eachpair of tongues through which the contact element can extend wheninserted into the connecting element.

2. Connecting element according to claim 1 in which the tongues are bentto a convex shape, the convex sides facing each other.

3. Connecting element according to claim 2, in which the width of thetongues and of the hole are sufficiently greater than the diameter ofthe contact element and its flange that a release means can be insertedthrough the hole in the connecting element adjacent and parallel withthe contact element and in contact with the surfaces of the tonguesfacing each other, whereby the tongues are pressed apart so much thatthe flange (11) is released from the notches (5) in the tongues (1, 2).

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,994,882 3/ 1935 Cadieux339--220 2,402,578 6/1946 Rollow 339198 2,922,135 1/1960 Hoberg et al339258 3,315,219 4/1967 Brinser et a1 339-205 X RICHARD E. MOORE,Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 339258

